Discussions on the Chinese Dream: some responses from the party-affiliated media

As known, Xi Jinping’s one of the key slogans so far has been the “Chinese Dream”. Following his successive references to Chinese Dream since November 2012, the concept and its meaning for both Chinese and international politics have curiously been discussed by experts and Western media. As a response to these discussions, China’s party-affiliated newspapers published some articles which aim to make some ‘corrections’ to the ‘misunderstandings’ of the concept. Yang Yiwei’s article on the Global Times is one example: debunking ten misconceptions of the ideal of the Chinese dream. A similar kind of article was published, as a front-page editorial, by the CPC’s mouthpiece, the People’s Daily, on April 1st, 2013: “Building the “China Dream” for the Great Chinese Rejuvenation”. It is a very useful piece for one who tries to understand what really Xi Jinping means to with “the ideal of the Chinese Dream”. One thing stressed in the article is that even if it was called in several different ways, China’s rejuvenation has been a common theme among the 20th century Chinese political leaders, i.e. making China a strong and wealthy country again. The article also stresses several times the ‘national spirit’ and nationalism as crucial part of the ideal of the Chinese Dream, after pointing to China’s some ‘material’ achievements like hosting World Expo and Olympics, and being the second biggest economy in the world economy. Another interesting comment in the article, which seemingly aims to address the concerns of the international community, and which also recalls the concept of peaceful development, is that: “Achieving the Chinese Dream will not only benefit the Chinese people but people in the world”. CEG’s English translation of the article, as divided into two parts, can be reached through the links below: